Collection Development

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Adopted October 26, 2006, Revised February 23, 2012

Introduction

The Orrville Public Library is a stand-alone library located in a small town of 8,500 people. The Library’s official service area is the Orrville City School District. The school district has a population of approximately 11,000 and covers 26 square miles.

The Library was instituted in 1925 when 600 books were moved into a vacant room in the high school. The current 25,000 square foot facility was the result of a major renovation begun in 1999 and officially opened on July 5, 2000. There are currently about 75,000 volumes in the collection.

The Orrville Public Library is highly valued and greatly used by the Orrville community. For the past twelve years, the Hennen’s American Public Library Rating Index (HAPLR) has consistently placed the Orrville Public Library among the top ten small libraries in the nation that serve communities with populations of 10,000 to 25,000. While the Orrville City School District contains less that 10% of the population of Wayne County, the Library consistently circulates 22% of the library materials used by county residents.

The Wayne County Public Library, which is composed of a main library in Wooster and branches in Dalton, Shreve, Rittman, Creston, Doylestown, and West Salem, is the largest public library entity in the county. Fredericksburg Library operates independently in southern Wayne County.

Though Orrville Public Library serves a small town, the Library offers rich resources through membership in CLEVNET. The CLEVNET Consortium, which began in 1982, is composed of 37 library systems (100+ library buildings) in 10 counties of northern Ohio. Combined holdings top 10 million items and include access to 100 electronic databases. The consortium, which Orrville Public Library joined in 1985, offers an integrated library system (currently SIRSI), technological support, electronic databases in addition to those offered through OPLIN, training, and innovative services (KnowItNow, downloadable eMedia, and wireless access.)

The Library uses a delivery service to transport library materials to and from different libraries every weekday, Monday through Friday. Twice annually, the circulation staff evaluates the delivery system to make sure that patrons are receiving requested items in a timely fashion.

When CLEVNET’s collection is insufficient to patron needs, materials from library collections throughout the country can be acquired for Orrville Public Library patrons through InterLibrary Loan Service.

Collection Analysis

Each library collection is a unique reflection of the interests and needs of the community it serves. Orrville Public Library staff listens to its users in many ways.

Staff members who order library materials work on the floor daily helping patrons. Staff know what questions are asked and what materials are used.

Staff compiles monthly use statistics for all parts of the collection to analyze usage patterns and evaluate collection needs.

All the questions asked at the Information Desks are noted. A record is made as to whether the Library’s collection had the resources to answer the question, what additional resources were required, and whether more materials should be sought to add to the collection on the subject in question. These notes are reviewed every month by department heads and the Director.

Patron suggestions are recorded and passed to the selection team.

Materials Selection Criterion

In order to invest the Library’s funds wisely in its efforts to serve the needs of the community, the following criteria are considered:

Existence of authoritative published reviews

Accuracy of information

Quality of treatment

Objectivity

Timeliness or permanence of value

Popular interest or demand

Extent to which the subject is already represented in the Library collection

Extent to which the subject is already represented in the CLEVNET consortium holdings

Readability or literacy style

Social significance

Reputation of the author and/or publishers

Cost

Availability of same or similar material elsewhere in the area

Physical durability, attractiveness, and other format characteristics

Media format, i.e. hardback, paperback, CD, e-book, etc.

Inclusion in standard bibliographies

Collection Maintenance Criterion

In order to maintain a vital, current collection that meets the needs of the community, examination and evaluation of materials is an ongoing process. When library materials lose the value for which they were originally selected, they should be withdrawn. An item is considered for discard when it is:

Obsolete, misleading, or outdated

Worn beyond use

Damaged

No longer circulating and/or used for reference purposes

One of many copies of a formerly popular title

Space availability and low circulation over a period of time are other factors that influence the withdrawal decision. Discard does not necessarily mean the book is not good, simply that its use for our community is done or very limited.

Gifts, including memorial items, are subject to these withdrawal and replacement policies.

Donations

Donations of materials in any format must meet the criteria used for selection before being added to the collection. Memorial and gift books must also meet selection criteria, including necessity to the collection. The Library reserves the right to accept or refuse conditions placed upon gifts of materials or funds.

Juvenile Collection

Juvenile fiction includes board books, picture books, easy readers, and juvenile chapter books. This collection serves all ages with a primary target audience of birth to 12 years. Collection size is limited due to space restrictions. Within the collection, space is allocated according to community need.

Juvenile non-fiction includes informational materials for all ages. Targeted ages for this collection are birth to age 12. Collection includes biographies as well as reference materials. Extra consideration is given to topics covered by the curriculum of Orrville City Schools. Every effort is made to provide topical materials on a variety of reading levels with emphasis on the curriculum guided grade levels.

Juvenile magazines are ordered based on reviews and community requests. Magazines must reflect the diversity of the community. Magazines are discarded after 30 months or shorter timeframe if they are not circulating. Second copies of popular magazines may be added. Magazines include comic books appropriate for age 12 and under. Graphic books not in comic book format are included in fiction or non-fiction.

Juvenile videos are purchased based on reviews and community interest. Budgetary considerations do not permit purchase of all videos that would be appropriate and useful. Video requests by teachers from Orrville City Schools are given serious consideration. Rated videos must be rated “G” to be selected for the Children’s Department. Videos that are not rated must be appropriate for children aged 12 and under. Consideration will be given to adding videos that are not available to patrons from other sources. Non-fiction videos, as well as older fiction videos, often fall into this category. The department will replace popular titles as budget permits. The department may circulate DVD and other formats as per the community need.

Audiobooks will be selected on the basis of reviews (of both print and audio versions), as well as the interest of the audiobook user community. Collection is limited by space available and funding. Audiobooks in the juvenile collection must meet the same criteria as print materials for the juvenile collection. The Children’s Department will maintain a collection of audiobooks on CD.

Young Adult Collection

Orrville Public Library maintains a Young Adult collection consisting of a small group of non-fiction, a small collection of graphic novels, an extensive collection of young adult fiction, an express collection of music CDs, and a small collection of audiobooks. Target audience for this collection is grades 5 – 9. Because our collection is used by a younger audience than in many libraries, our selection must correspondingly reflect that age group.

Young Adult non-fiction is a small collection of materials which specifically addresses the needs and interests of this age group.

Graphic materials are judged on content and appropriateness of illustrations.

Music CDs reflect the most current and popular music for young adults, using reviews and patron requests. All music must be appropriate for 9th grade and younger.

Audiobooks are recordings of popular Young Adult paper titles.

Young Adult fiction is selected based on reviews, interest to our patrons, and suitability for our target age group.

Adult Collection

The adult fiction collection consists primarily of popular best sellers, classic works of literature, inspirational, mysteries, westerns, and science fiction. Guided by our mission statement, titles are selected on the basis of reviews in professional journals, existing collection, and patron demand. Fiction circulates well and multiple copies to fill requests are purchased as the budget allows. We strive to maintain a collection that is both current and broad.

Adult non-fiction consists of books to cover a wide range of information needs by patrons ranging from middle school/junior high age students through adults. All subjects are covered with special emphasis on school assignment topics, do-it-yourself information, lifelong learning, and pleasure reading in the non-fiction genres. The size of this collection is fairly static. On-going weeding and ordering are used to maintain a current and broad collection.

The large print collection provides popular material for our visually impaired patrons. The collection includes bestsellers, mysteries, family reading, westerns, biographies and non-fiction. Selection is guided by the same criteria used for regular print fiction and non-fiction

The music collection consists of the CD format. Other formats may be added as per community demand. Categories include Classical, Jazz, Pop, International, New Age, Show, Country, and Inspirational. Currently, the most heavily used collections are the Country and Inspirational so ordering is weighted a little heavier in those areas. Space limitations dictate no growth in this collection.

The adult audiobook collection consists of both fiction and non-fiction works in the current available formats. Guided by our mission statement, titles are selected on the basis of reviews in professional journals, existing collection, and patron demand. Audiobook format has changed over the past several years and is expected to continue changing. Audiobooks continue to grow in popularity and we strive to maintain a collection that is both current and broad on CD and other formats as per community need.

The adult video collection is comprised of DVDs and includes both fiction and non-fiction titles, thereby providing contemporary high-interest materials, supplying information for lifelong learning, and supplementing the educational needs of school-aged children.

The DVD collection has a limited lifespan and is expected to become obsolete within the next five years. Currently, demand is very high for this format and it is being actively purchased for the collection. This area of the video collection will continue to grow over the next several years, but eventually taper off and diminish as new formats for this medium become available. It is unknown how new formats will affect the Library as far as physical storage is concerned, but the Library may still maintain videos in the format of choice for the community.

Reference and Local History Collection

The Reference book collection is designed to allow staff to answer questions on the telephone or in person that require an authoritative source with a quick turnaround time. Encyclopedias, almanacs, business directories, dictionaries, and legal information are just some of the areas covered. This collection is quickly becoming obsolete as more and more sources become available through databases and websites. The reference budget has been reduced each of the last several years and will continue to drop.

Local History items are purchased if they relate to the Orrville community. As there are not a lot of items that fall into this category, just about everything published is added to this collection. This collection does include microfilm of the local newspapers, which keeps the cost of maintaining this collection rather high.

Periodicals

The Orrville Public Library subscribes to approximately 125 titles to serve the needs of a variety of age groups and interests. The Library’s selection criterion is applied equally to periodical selection. Titles are evaluated annually using circulation statistics and new magazine titles are considered.

Thousands of periodicals are now offered full text in our online databases which offer easy keyword and Boolean search options. In general, the values sought from hard copy periodicals have changed from research to enrichment and entertainment.

All issues are circulated for one week.

Local and representative national newspapers are purchased within budget and space limitations. Microform files of newspapers are acquired as funding allows.